TOPHAT
In the industry, a lot of projects are given codenames that derive from some subject. That subject could be anything from pirate ships to alcohol distilleries to plays on words. Maybe I'll think of something else, but I don't plan on building many computers. (for now 
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Rationale and Ramblings
This started out with a blog post here. I've been using LGA 1366 blade servers at work, and they've got a good amount of horsepower. Looking on ebay I saw a pair of x5650's for $240 and started planning. When I found ASUS's Z8NR-D12 for sale on Newegg I was very happy indeed (RMA support and a manufacturer warranty of three years). After finding ECC RAM for cheap and a low-wattage PSU with dual EPS connectors (and confirming with the manufacturers that the parts should be supported), I decided to go for it.
The downside? I don't have a case yet 
. I was looking at the GD07 and GD08 from Silverstone, but I would have to sacrifice the drive cage to get an SSI EEB board to work with
it. That's not okay, since this will likely start out as a storage machine. I can fit this system in a 2U chassis, but I need find a non-server PSU with two EPS connectors that also pulls air through horizontally (not vertically) or has an open chassis. If someone can find one, PLEASE LET ME KNOW! I will love you forever.
I suppose I could go with a fanless PSU and just use the forced air from the server chassis to make it work, but the ones I can find don't have multiple CPU connectors on them (and probably for good reason). Maybe a molex to 8P EPS would work? The one I linked has a single 12V rail.
Or I could go with a 4U chassis and then I could use the PSU I bought, but it seems like a waste since I don't think I'll need so many storage drives.
In the meantime, this will be my first foray into DIY servers. It will likely start out as a platform for me to experiment with FreeNAS/ZFS and ESXi, as well as to do some benchmarking. More knowledge of storage is better. Eventually this will become either a ZFS-based NAS or an ESXi host. I'm leaning towards the NAS because it'll be of more use to me in the short term. I will need an ESXi machine in the future for development on a project I will be working on within the next year, so maybe there'll be another guide like this 
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Parts
CPU: Dual Intel x5650 @ 2.66 GHz. Six cores, twelve threads a piece. 95W
Motherboard: ASUS Z8NR-D12 - There are plenty of dual-1366 motherboards out there, but this one was on sale for $200 from Newegg. I bought the very last one, which makes me sad because now I have to either buy more expensive Tyan or Supermicro boards or step up to LGA 2011, where CPUs are expensive.
Memory: Kingston 24GB DDR3 1333 ECC Memory - Bought off E-Bay for $180 for 24GB. I will be going single-socket at first, to verify RAM compatibility. If the server starts without a hitch, I will buy another kit and install the second CPU.
Power Supply: Seasonic S12II 520W Bronze - It's non-modular, cheap, 80+ Bronze rated, and comes with the CPU connectors I need.
Boot Drive: Adata SP600 64GB - It was on sale for $5 more than the 32GB version. Cheapest I could find. Will be used to test the server, then used as a cache in whatever server I end up running.
CPU Cooler: Intel BXSTS100C - It's a 2U cooler, and pretty beefy if I do say so. It's a server cooler so it won't be silent, but it was meant to cool a 130W processor. Since these are 95W, this should be relatively quiet. It also is pretty much required due to the CPU socket spacing on the motherboard (see more in pics).
I do have pictures today, but the way I want to arrange this build log forces me to copy the way alpenwasser did his log for Apollo.
When the final machine is complete, it will appear in this post at the bottom. For now, enjoy the (in progress) build log!
Update Log